Senior talent delivery across a major agency network restructure in APAC

The challenge

Following a global restructure that consolidated creative, media and technology capabilities under unified regional leadership, a major agency network needed to rapidly build out its APAC leadership layer across six markets. The requirement spanned Chief Operating Officers, heads of delivery, creative technology leads and senior programme managers, all in roles demanding candidates who could operate across disciplines, geographies and client types simultaneously.

The challenge was compounded by the state of the agency talent market across the region. Senior candidates with genuine cross-discipline fluency, equally capable in creative, media and technology environments, are scarce at the best of times. In a period of widespread industry restructuring, many of the strongest profiles were either mid-transition themselves or being pursued by multiple competing networks simultaneously. The business needed a partner who could move quickly, map the market comprehensively and make a compelling case to passive candidates who were not actively looking.

The approach

Interval worked closely with the network's regional HR and operations leadership from a single coordinated brief, building a unified view of the talent landscape across all six markets simultaneously rather than approaching each in isolation. A consistent competency framework was agreed upfront to ensure quality and cultural fit could be assessed reliably across markets as different as Japan, Australia and Southeast Asia.

For each role, Interval ran targeted direct search campaigns alongside broader market mapping, giving the client full visibility of the available talent pool before any decisions were made. Where strong candidates existed but were not actively looking, Interval invested time in building relationships and presenting the opportunity in a way that reflected the network's strategic ambition rather than simply the job specification.

Throughout the engagement, Interval provided structured updates on pipeline status, market intelligence and candidate feedback, as well as a live interactive dashboard, enabling the regional leadership team to make informed decisions quickly without being drawn into the operational detail of the search process itself.

The results

Interval filled 22 senior roles across six APAC markets within a 120-day window. The two-year retention rate across all placements was 89%, reflecting the rigour of the competency framework and the quality of the candidate and client matching process. The network subsequently engaged Interval on a second mandate as the restructuring programme extended into additional markets.